Samsung Electronics is stepping up its push into the global medical device market led by its medical device subsidiary Samsung Medison. As sales of premium ultrasound diagnostic equipment increase and double-digit revenue growth continues to outpace the market's growth rate, it is expanding its production base. Samsung Medison aims to expand its premium lineup and global supply channels based on increased production capacity, while widening its business scope into new clinical fields and treatment technologies to target a top-tier global position.

Samsung Medison said on Thursday it held a completion ceremony for an expansion of its ultrasound diagnostic equipment manufacturing building at its Hongcheon site in Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province. The new manufacturing building is a production facility built with an investment of 50 billion won and a total floor area of 14,548 square metres, the largest since it became a Samsung Electronics subsidiary in 2011.

Kyu-tae Yoo (유규태), head of Samsung Electronics' medical device business and CEO of Samsung Medison, said the Hongcheon plant expansion is an important turning point that will raise Samsung Medison's manufacturing competitiveness in the global medical device market by one level.

The expansion will increase ultrasound diagnostic equipment production capacity to about twice the current level by 2030. The Hongcheon site produces premium products including the R20 and HERA Z20 across the entire process from circuit board manufacturing to shipment of finished goods. All export volumes to about 110 countries, which account for more than 90 percent of sales, also come from the site. Medical devices currently rank first among Gangwon Province export items for 10 consecutive years.

Samsung Medison introduced smart processes and automated equipment at the new manufacturing building and redesigned the process flow from parts receiving to assembly, inspection and shipment. It said it applied full inspection of all products at each production stage. It also established a central control system that integrates management of air conditioning facilities and energy use using Samsung Electronics' building integrated solution b.IoT.

The company said it also installed high-efficiency constant temperature and humidity equipment that can cut power consumption by up to 52 percent compared with existing facilities. It also changed the process layout at its Gumi site in North Gyeongsang Province, which handles probes, a key component that generates and receives ultrasound, to raise annual production capability by about 17 percent.

The expansion comes as revenue growth has been faster than the market. Samsung Medison said that while the global ultrasound diagnostic equipment market grew 3.7 percent last year, its revenue increased 16.2 percent. It expects this year’s revenue growth rate to be about three times the forecast market growth rate of 4 percent.

Its revenue has nearly tripled compared with the time it joined Samsung. The company explained it has strengthened imaging performance and AI diagnostic support functions by combining Samsung's electronics and IT technology with ultrasound technology, and that expanded supply of AI-enabled premium product lines is driving growth.

Samsung Medison has expanded its premium lineup by launching the obstetrics and gynecology-focused HERA Z20 in 2024, the radiology-focused R20 in 2025 and the obstetrics and gynecology-focused Z10 this year. It supplied its premium product line to Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, ranked No. 1 and No. 3 on U.S. current affairs weekly Newsweek's list of the 2026 World's Best Hospitals, and delivered the R20 to Sweden's Karolinska University Hospital, the highest-ranked hospital in Europe in the same assessment. It also won bids from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to supply products over the long term.

Samsung Medison plans to expand its business into new clinical fields and treatment areas based on its diagnostic technology. It created a dedicated development organisation in cardiology, where demand is increasing due to ageing and rising chronic disease, and is working with Samsung Medical Center to strengthen product development capabilities that reflect clinical needs.

In the Point-of-Care field, it launched the laptop-type EVO Q10 and tablet-type EVO X10 this year. It is targeting demand in emergency rooms and intensive care units, highlighting mobility and ease of use. It said it implemented a technology that links high-resolution real-time imaging of the R20 to the Edison treatment system with Histosonics, a company that treats tumours without incisions.

Samsung Medison plans to strengthen competitiveness in premium products and AI-based diagnostic solutions and expand links with new clinical fields and treatment technologies. The company stressed that on the back of this growth, entry into the global ultrasound diagnostic equipment market's top three is within sight.